Tsume
Tsume (ツメ lit. "Claw") is the second wolf to be introduced in the series. Rough and self-reliant, Tsume is portrayed as a strong fighter who keeps his true feelings to himself. He joins the others out of boredom and does not initially believe in Paradise. Though he frequently quarrels with Kiba over their journey, he eventually comes to believe in Paradise as strongly as he does. Personality Tsume is depicted as a "a stereotypical angry anime loner" who curses a lot but is very confident, and at times arrogant, and keeps himself distant from his allies. Though he and Kiba continue to come into regular conflict, Tsume eventually comes to believe in their goal and becomes a loyal pack member. Of all of the pack, he is closest to Toboe, whom he refers to as the "runt." Arguably, the red wolf is the one who keeps him with the pack until Paradise itself takes root in his heart. Appearance Tsume is a large grey wolf with gold eyes and a prominent x-shaped scar on his chest. Toboe has noted that Tsume has scars all over his body. When in human form, he is tall and relatively muscular, with cropped silver hair that he ties back in a small ponytail. He wears one stud earing in his right ear and two hoops in the left, one larger than the other. He wears tight, black leather that exposes his belly, the sleeves partially ripped off. Background Before moving to Freeze City, Tsume had lived in another location with a large pack of wolves. Lady Jaguara's wolf hunting troops attacked the pack, killing most of his family and friends. As Tsume attempted to flee from the battle, his pack's leader attacking him, giving him his trademark scar. After, he was cast out by his pack, leaving him to travel until he made it to Freeze City where his self-loathing over his actions caused him to refuse to befriend others. Plot Tsume is first shown working with a gang of humans, attacking the nobles' supply ships. However, after he fails to save Gehl from falling, due to the boy's fear of his true form, he splits from them. Soon after he finds Toboe, protecting the young wolf from Quent. Toboe is mainly responsible for, despite Tsume's resistance, convincing the grey wolf to join the newly formed pack; Tsume convinces himself that he's only tired of the city, and that's why he's going along. When Toboe accidentally triggers a pressure plate that activates an attack drone, he saves the young wolf from the unearthed "war machine". When the pack encounters the city of Lost Wolves, Tsume declares that it's proof that Paradise is only an illusion. When the pack splits up temporarily, he allows Toboe to remain with him, making it clear that even if the pack broke up at that point, he would willingly stay with the young red wolf. He shows rage similar to Kiba's in the face of the wolves' plight, although he isn't nearly as surprised; when Zali helps the pack, he accuses the other of not behaving like a wolf, looking out for a pack other than his own. When Cheza joins the pack, it seems to go a long way in convincing Tsume of Paradise's existance. He dreams of Paradise, and fights with ferocity almost to match Kiba's when defending her from Darcia. Later, he and the other wolves defended Blue from being assaulted by human boys, despite his justifiable distrust of her, but later accepts her presence in the pack. When Toboe says that he wants to stay with the Indians, he shrugs and gives his consent, so long as it is what the pup wants. When the pack reaches Jagura's city, he's the first one to discover Hige's connection with the noble, stumbling into a hall filled with stuffed wolves sporting similar collars to Hige's within the castle. At first he is critical of the Mexican wolf, but comes to realize that Hige did not betray the pack consiously or willingly. After Toboe is killed, Tsume drops his tough facade and cries over his body, even telling the truth of how he got his scar. Tsume is the last of the pack to remain standing with Kiba in the final battle with Darcia after commiting a coup de grâce to end Hige's suffering after Darcia's vicious attack. Despite putting up a fierce fight, he is killed after Darcia rips open his side and legs. Before dying, he whispers to Kiba the exact words Hige told him "Let's meet again... next time.... in Paradise." Tsume then lets out a haunting howl before dying. At the end of the series, Tsume is seen in his human form riding a motorcycle in a city, glancing up as if hearing something, like the others. Quotes *''"Well, if worse comes to worse, we can always eat each other... We can start with the runt since he's gotten so weak. And of course there's always little Porky over there..."'' Trivia *The manga artist, Iida Toshitsugu, commented that he had "never drawn eyelashes on a man before." *Voice actor Kenta Miyake felt Tsume was all about appearances and notes that Tsume always speaks in a harsh manner such as talking down to Kiba, casually dismissing Toboe, and seems to ignore Hige all together. However, he also felt that despite Tsume's seemingly tough nature, that he was the most naive of the pack and the most timid. Miyake felt as if he was Tsume's father, "kindly watching over him" and he used those feelings to guide the way he depicted the character. *Tsume's english voice actor Crispin Freeman and Kiba's voice actor Johnny Yong Bosch also worked together in another anime called "Durarara!" Tsume's attitude resembles Crispin Freeman's character Shizuo Heiwajima and as well as the relationship he has with Johnny Yong Bosch's (Kiba's English voice actor) character Izaya Orihara, although Izaya and Kiba are very different. Category:Major Characters Category:Characters Category:Wolves Category:Animals Category:Males